Gun-silencer.



H. CRAVEN.

GUN SILENGEB.

APPLICATION FILED rm. 1, 1910.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

3 SHEET S-SHEET 1.

b-ooooooo Ewe/MM H. CRAVEN.

GUN SILBNOER.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 1, 1910.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

3 SKEETS-SHEET 2.

H. CRAVEN.

GUN SILENGER. APPLICATION FILED MB. 1, 1910.

' Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

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'fiARRY CRAVEN, OF PITTSFIELD, ILLINOIS.

GUN-SILENCER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

Application filed February 1, 1910. Serial No. 541,285.

.Lo all '01 cm 'itmay concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY CRAVEN, citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, in the county of Pike and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in GrunSilencers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for dead-' ening or silencing the noise due to the firing of a gun, and particularly to a device adapted to be attached to the barrel of a gun and which shall, while permitting the passage of the projectile, prevent the passage of gas through the muzzle of the gun, the gas being directed into a muffier, and thence passing out to the atmosphere.

My invention contemplates forming or providing the muzzle of a gun with a valve which is supported upon a spring and which normally closes the muzzle of the gun, this spring being so arranged that as the projectile passes out, the spring will be raised, lifting the valve and permitting the escape of the projectile, the spring returning the valve to its original position as soon as the projectile has left the muzzle of the gun, thus confining the gas within the gun barrel. The gun barrel or the barrel section attached thereto is provided with a plurality of perforations permitting the escape of the gas, and the forward end of the barrel or the barrel section attached thereto is pro-- vidHlwith a chamber having perforations leading to the outer air, into which chamber the gas passes from the gun barrel.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my silencer applied to a single-barreled gun. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof; Fig. 3 is a perspective'view of my invention as applied to a double-barreled gun; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 3, through one of the barrels; Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 66 of Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of a gun barrel, showing my silencer formed in part therewith; Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a modified form of silencer, as applied to a single-barreled gun; Fig. 9 is a like view showing another modification; and. Fig. 10 is a transverse section through the auxiliary barrel and the muflier and looking toward the forward end of the auxiliary barrel and muflier.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to Figs. 1 and '2, A designates a gun barrel of any usual or ordinary kind,

having a sight B. 2 designates an auxiliary barrel section which is adapted to fit over the muzzle of the barrel, it being enlarged at 3, to that end, the enlarged portion being countersunk for the reception of the muzzle ofthe gun and having such proportion that the inner surface of the barrel, is practically continuous with the inner surface of the auxiliary section. The portion of the aux iliary barrel which fits over the muzzle of the gun is reinforced, as at 4, and the upper portion of the auxilia barrel is split or slotted, as at 5, to permit the auxiliary barrel to be placed on over the sight B, the sight being received within said slot 5. auxiliary barrel is held upon the gun barrel by means of set screws 6 or other like devices which will hold it firmly in place. The forward end of the auxiliary barrel is provided with a spring 7 which is attached at its rear end to the inner face of the barrel, preferably in a groove therein, so that the face of the spring shall be flush with the face of the barrel, this groove 8 being continued to the forward end of the auxiliary barrel. The spring extends forward and downward and its lower end is received in a. groove 9 formed in the lower portion of the barrel at its forward end. The end of the spring is angularly bent, as at 1,0, and attached to this angular bend is the disk-like valve 11 which is adapted to fit snugly against the end of the auxiliary barrel and close the same. The lower portion of the auxiliary barrel is provided with a plurality of rearwardly inclined perforations 12 openinginto a chamber 13 which is preferably cylindrical and which is formed to surround the auxiliary barrel 2 or form part thereof. The ends of this chamber 13 are closed by end plates 1 these plates being perforated, as at 15, either at one or both ends, preferably,

The

' shown my however as shown, at one end. The extremity-of the auxiliary barrel 2 is provided with the upwardly projecting sight 16 which is to be used in conjunction with the usual sight B of the gun.

The parts of my device areto be formed of steel and aluminium, the chamber 13 being of the latter; metal, inasmuch as it will be subjected to comparatively slight strain, and it is suiiiciently'light not to overweight.

. is shown in Fig. 3, wherein A A designates the barrels of the gun-,and B the sight therefor located midway between the barrels. The silencer comprises-two auxiliary barrels 2 divided from each other by the longitudinal partition 18. This partition only ex- 'innersurface of the barrel.

tends slightly rearward of the'chamber 13, the barrels both merging into each other beyond this point, and the exterior bore thereof being sufliciently enlarged to permit the reception of gun barrels, the inner surfaces of the gun barrels being flush with the inner surfaces of the auxiliary barrels. The rear ends of the auxiliary barrels are slotted, as at 5 "to accommodate the sight-B, the upper edge of the partition plate 18 forming the continuation gun and being provided at its extremity with the sight 16*. The chamber 13 has exactly the same construction as the silencing chamber before described, and is' formed preferably in one piece with the auxiliary barrels 2. The auxiliary barrels are formed with perforations 12 which open into the chamber 13, and the chamber itself is provided with perforations 15 through one wall thereof. The :valve 11 and spring 7 are formed as previously described, the springs being received in grooves 8 and 9 on the While in the figures previously described I have shown an embodiment of the princi-- ples of my invention in which auxiliary'lb arrels are used, which are attached to the main barrels of the gun, I do not wish'to be lime ited to this, as it will be obvious that I might form the muzzle of the.main barrel itself -with perforations, and. apply my silencingdevice thereto, as shown in Fig. 7. In this figure, the barrel of the gun is designated A and the muzzle is provided with the perforations 12* which open into the silencing chamber .13 which is constructed precisely as heretofore described. The'valve is also the same as that previously, described,- and merely differs in that it is attached to the muzzle of the gun, instead of to the auxiliary barrel, the muzzle of the gun being grooved uponitsinside face, as previously of the middle rib C of the opened. It will be seen that the construction shown is precisely the same as that heretofore described,,except-th'at the silencer is formed with the gun and not as an attachment thereto.

In Fig. 8 Ishow another modified form of my im'ention, as applied to a single-barreled gun wherein the construction is similar to that shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 8, 20-

designates the auxiliary barrel which is enlarged at its rear end, as previously described and is attached to the gun barrel precisely as described in'the construction illustrated in F ig. 1. The auxiliary barrel 20 is slotted at its rear end, as at 21, to fit over thesight B on the barrel A, and the forward end of the auxiliary barrel is provided with a sight 22. The forward end of the auxiliary barrel is also provided with a valve 23 which is attached tothe end of a spring precisely like the spring .7 shown in Fig. 4 and whose upturned end 25 is attached to the outer face ofthe valve, as shown in F ig. 8. The valveis intended to rise as the shot is fired. Inthis form of my invention, the muffler 26 instead of extending entirely around .theauxiliary barrel, as in Fig. 1, only partially surrounds the auxiliary barrel and .is riv'etedor screwed thereto, as at 27 v In Figs. 9 and 10, I show still another form of mufller attached to an auxiliary barrel. In

these figures, 3O designates the auxiliary barrel enlarged at its rear end for the reception of the muzzle of the barrel A, and slotted, as at 31, to accommodate the sight B.

The forward end of the auxiliary barrel is formed with a foresight 32 and attached to the auxiliary barrel is a mufller 33. The

opposed margins of the side walls-of the muffler are bent around to fit closely against the auxiliary barrel, as indicated at 33 and are riveted orotherwise attached thereto, as at 34. It -will 'be seen that this form of mufiier acts to reinforce the auxiliary barrel and makes the construction particularly strong. While I have heretofore described l the valve at the end of the auxiliary barrel as opening upward, it is to be understood that it may equally well open downward, and this construction is shown in Figs. 9 and 10, wherein the valve 36 is attached to a spring 35 which at its rear end is attached in aslot formed in the lower port-ion of the barrel, .the. slotbeing indicated bythe nu-' metal 38, and then extends upward and for- Ward to the muzzle, where it is angularly bent, as at 39-and is then attached to the scribed except that it-moves downward as the charge passes out ofthe barrel instead of moving upward' The perforations'extend- .12 barrel 36. This valve operates in preciselythe same manner as the valves. previously deing from the barrel to the mufiler are slanted rearward and downward in Order to prevent shot from entering the gas chamber in their passage out of the barrel.

lVhile I have shown my improved silencer as including both a valve and a mufiler, I I

' ing the valve from the endof the auxiliary barrel, the spring moving up into the groove in the barrel, so that the face of the spring is flush with the inside face of the auxiliary barrel. As soon as the solid portion of the charge has passed out, the spring will retract the valve, which will cover the end of the auxiliary barrel, preventing the escape of gases therethrough. The gases thus forced back, will find an outlet through the perforations into the mutlling chamber, and

will thence pass out to the outer air through the perforations in the end will thereof. Exactly the same operation takes place with the double-barreled gun as with the single. 'It is of course to be understood that the mufiiing chamber shall be of a capacity sufliciently great to receive the gases forced out of the gun, without any danger of its being burst. The muttling chamber is of such size that the gas will be greatly reduced in pressure when it passes into the chamber, and hence will pass into the open air at a comparatively slight pressure, thus preventing any sound other than a slight hissing noise. aving thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A gun barrel'having perforations'in its muzzle, a gas chamber into which said perforations open, a disk-shaped valve normally disposed against'the outer end of the barrel and closing the same, and a spring attached at one end to the barrel and at its free end to the valve and permitting the valve to move transversely of the axis of the barrel.

2. A gun silencer including a barrel having perforations in its muzzle, a gas chamher into which said perforations open, a diskshaped valve normally disposed against the outer end of the barrel and closing the same, and a spring attached at one end to the interior of the barrel and at the other end to the valve, said sprin extending diagonally across the interior 9 the barrel in the path of movement of th charge and in position to be struck by the charge and raised as the charge passes out of the barrel.

8. A gun barrel having perforations at its muzzle end and formed with a longitudinal groove, a spring mounted in one end of said longitudinal groove and extending diagonally across the diameter of the barrel to the open end thereof, and a valvenormally supported by said spring in front of the muzzle and closing the same.

4. A gun barrel having perforations in its wall, at .its muzzle end, a gas chamber located at the muzzle, into which said perforations open, said chamber having openings to the outer air, a spring located in the interior of the barrel at the muzzle end, said spring being attached at one end to the inside face of the barrel and'extending diagtached to the muzzle of the barrel, into which said perforations open, said chamber having openings leading to the outer air, the interior of the barrel having a longitudinal groove extending to the open end of the barrel and having a groove at its end, opposed to the first named groove, a spring attached at one endin the first named groove and extending diagonally across the. barrel and normally fitting into the second named groove, and a disk-like valve supported on said spring and normally closing the opening of the barrel.

6. A silencing attachment for guns, including a barrel adapted to be attached to the muzzle of a gun and form a continuation of the gun barrel, the barrel of the attachment being perforated and provided with a longitudinal groove at its muzzle end, a spring supported at one end in the inner end of said longitudinal groove, said spring extending transversely across, upward and forlongitudinally extending to the extremity of i the auxiliary barrel, a spring mounted at its inner end in thesinner end of each groove and extending forward and across the barrel to the open end thereof, a valve supported on the end of each spring and adapted to close against the mouth of the auxiliary barrel, and a gas chamber mounted on the auxiliary barrels, into which the perfora- I, tions thereof open, said'chamber being provided with perforations opening to the-outer all. 4

8. A' silencing attachment for double-barreled guns, comprising two parallel auxiL' iary barrels having a socket at their inner ends adapted to fit over the muzzles of a double-barreled'gnn, said socket being slot ted to accommodate the forward sight of said gun, each of the auxiliary barrels having a'longitudinal groove formed on its. in-

side face, extending to the open end of the forward end theretoand crossing said barrel and'attached at its rear end in the rear end of the groove, and a gas chamber attached to i the auxiliary barrels, the wall of each 'auXil-- iary barrel-being perforatedto permit the passage of gas into the gas chamber, said. vgas chamber being formed with openings leading to the outer air. In"te'stimony whereof I affix my signa:

,ture inpresence of two witnesses.

H RRY-oRAvEnj 1,. s.] Witnessesf, I i

HUGO GRIesBY, M. E. HALPIN. 

